Riu Palace Swahili

We arrived yesterday at Riu Palace Swahili in Tanzania for our anniversary, and we have been extremely disappointed by the culinary experience. For the price point, it is honestly unclear what guests are paying for when it comes to food. The room service menu is shockingly limited, with only a few basic finger sandwiches and a salad or two. It feels far below what one would expect from a luxury all-inclusive resort. The à la carte dining system is also very frustrating. Reservations open only 48 hours in advance, capacity is limited, and some restaurants appear to be open only one day a week. For guests staying just a few days, this makes it very difficult, if not impossible, to actually experience the restaurants advertised as part of the resort. The 24-hour lounge bar has also not lived up to expectations, as there has not been food available when we checked. We came here for a special anniversary trip, but the dining experience has taken away from the stay. The property may be beautiful, but the food access, room service, and restaurant availability do not justify the price.

Such a great experience with friendly staff. Special shout out to Noah at Masai bar. Such a positive guy and always welcomed us with a smile on his face!!

A wonderful adults only resort, amazing facilities, great night entertainment, wonderful food and delicous cocktails. The staff were amazing, thank you! We only wished we could have booked into one of the speciality restaurants but they were either closed or booked.

we stayed at Riu for our honeymoon, and on multiple occasions got served by Norah at the Elite Club Lounge; she was absolutely amazing, so polite, so kind and professional. An asset to the company!! Thank you so much Norah for making our holiday amazing!! ♥️♥️

Well from start to finish this place was just amazing. I travelled with my husband for my 50th birthday. I'd emailed the hotel beforehand just to make them aware, not really expecting anything. On arrival, we'd been given a room upgrade which was just beautiful. The bed was decorated with towel art, and we had a welcome gift of a bottle of sparkling wine. Our luggage was delayed thanks to turkish airlines, however the hotel asked our sizes and provided us with free RIU polo t-shirts ( another great little touch). The room was big and spacious and always spotlessly clean. there is a mini bar which is refilled daily as well. The shower is massive and always had hot water. There are two pools on resort. We loved the infinity top pool only because it was the quieter of the two pools. There is waiter service here which was absolutely top notch and a special shout out to ALAWI who was always there with a top up. The food was good, the buffet had multiple choices both breakfast and dinner. The theme restaurants require a reservation which we managed to try all of them during our stay. Our favourite was Duomo and its where i had my 50th birthday meal. the highlight of which was having happy birthday sun in swahili and a birthday cake. Absolutely top notch. Service was fantastic and the food in here was amazing ( we went back 3 times). Our least favourite was Krystal, the service wasn't great, it appeared we'd been forgotten about for being served and having drinks (even though we were one of the first ones in), also the food here was just ok. I'll put it down to an off day hopefully, but put us off enough we didn't revisit. The steakhouse was also great service and amazing food. The place was beautiful. It is right on the beach as well which is just stunning, and beautiful warm clear blue water. The grounds are immaculate, and seriously the staff can't do enough for you. I can highly recommend this hotel for your visit to Zanzibar. 5 stars.